Tag Archives: Neptune

A Mercury Station, a New Moon, and You Are Enough

By Amanda Painter

Often misworded, the quotation “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are” is also overwhelmingly misattributed to Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy did not come up with it; he quotes it in his autobiography, and attributes it to one Squire Bill Widener of Widener’s Valley, Virginia). Be that as it may, it struck me as perhaps a useful mantra for the current astrology as we head into the weekend. With Mercury stationing direct today, a New Moon in Sagittarius tomorrow, and various other planets interacting with those two events, you might be feeling a mix of push-pull on the one hand, and a lull in energy on the other hand.

Rocking chairs at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine. Photo by Amanda Painter.

If that’s the case, I suspect it would be useful to stay in touch with your actual circumstances, resources and honest desires. I’m not only referring to the seeming ‘limitations’ of What Is, but also to something that you may sometimes push aside or not believe: your inherent enough-ness; that is, the fact that you are enough, as you are right now.

But, I get ahead of myself. Let’s go over the astrology in a little more detail.

As mentioned, Mercury stations direct in late Scorpio today at 4:22 pm EST (21:21:59 UTC). I don’t know about you, but the last few weeks (most of which Mercury spent in Sagittarius) seem to have been marked by a number of interesting things coming to light — both in the public/political realm, and also in my personal life.

Given that Scorpio is the sign of secrets (among other things), I’m very curious to witness what shakes out as it stations direct today. See if you can keep your awareness tuned to that sense of something being revealed, and make a note of what you discover.

Tomorrow, at 2:20 am EST (7:20:15 UTC), the Sagittarius Moon and Sun form their conjunction for the month, for the New Moon. They do so conjunct a deep-space phenomenon called the Great Attractor (you can read more about that here) and square Mars and Neptune in Pisces.

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Catching What Shakes Out of the Ethers

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By Amanda Painter

Today and tomorrow are busy days astrologically. The combination of events involved suggests that tracking your inner emotional and mental landscape (or monologue) is equally important as keeping tabs on what is going on around you personally and culturally — perhaps even more so; though the moments when external and internal intersect could also be key. Here are the main events:

No. 2 from Group IV of “the ten biggest ones”; tempera on paper over canvas by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944). Her “Paintings for the Temple” relate to inner processes as conveyed in meditation via spiritual entities.

Mars is leaving Aquarius after a long sojourn in that sign — about six months, thanks to its retrograde, not counting a few weeks in Capricorn this summer. It finally dives into Pisces at 5:21 pm EST (22:20:42 UTC) today. About eight hours before Mars makes its move, we get the first quarter Moon (Aquarius Moon to Scorpio Sun, late in their signs).

Tomorrow, Venus stations direct in Libra after its own month-and-a-half or so of retrograde motion, most of which was in Scorpio. Venus makes its apparent pivot at 5:51 am EST (10:50:58 UTC). About 15 hours later, Mercury stations retrograde in Sagittarius at 8:33 pm EST (1:33:06 UTC Saturday).

That’s a lot to have happening all at once with the so-called personal planets: the bodies that represent such attributes as our motivation, physical activity and sex drive (Mars); our emotions, receptivity and intimate relationships (Venus); and our thought processes, communication and communication technology (Mercury). And although the monthly cycles of the Moon (emotions and subconscious) are perhaps less striking, the sense of moving into gear that can accompany the first quarter is certainly coloring the background.

As a result of all this, it would seem that the first order of business for the next few days is simply to stay tuned in — to your experiences, to your responses to others, to any little insights or pieces of information that come your way, to any urges or tugs of intuition, to the sensation that you’re finally answering a question you’ve been grappling with a while, and to the arrival of new questions. Standard protocol for Mercury stationing is to notice when your attention to the task at hand has lapsed so you can refocus; but with all that’s going on, it could be just as enlightening to note what other thought your mind was occupied with at that moment.

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Looks Like Libra, Smells Like Scorpio

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By Amanda Painter

Although the Sun is still in Libra, some of this week’s news events appear to have a distinct Scorpio scent. This would seem to relate to astrology involving Mercury in Scorpio that is bookending the current workweek.

Mossy micro-landscape at Acadia National Park in Maine one year ago. Photo by Amanda Painter.

We began the week with news coverage intensifying about the disappearance of Washington Post journalist and Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi.

Turkish officials allegedly have audio and video evidence of Khashoggi being tortured and dismembered within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, which he had visited to obtain legal documents pertaining to his upcoming marriage.

We might interpret this as representing a dark shadow side to Mercury conjunct Venus in Scorpio, which was exact on Monday and which was also sextile Vesta in Capricorn. Usually astrologers describe Mercury-Venus conjunctions as stimulating an appreciation for beauty or declarations of love. Yet Mercury-Venus can also help one to see the underlying patterns in a relationship. The alleged events surrounding Khashoggi’s disappearance and apparent murder do appear to be laying bare certain unsavory facets in the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

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Neptune on My Mind

From Neptune to the New Moon

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By Amanda Painter

Are you looking around this week wondering if you can believe what you’re seeing? I know, I know: for many, this has become the expectation, not the surprise. Yet as we wind down toward the Virgo New Moon on Sunday, your perception of the environment — and how that influences your direct interactions and immediate relationships — could use some attention and discretion.

Ridges on a caterpillar’s back mimicking the edges of the leaves it’s feeding on, making it hard to discern; photo by Amanda Painter.

I say that because one of the most important aspects between now and the weekend (and even beyond) is the Sun in Virgo making its yearly opposition to Neptune (which itself is taking a leisurely stroll through Pisces).

This is an aspect of slippery perception: one that warns us to be wary of deception, both intentional and the accidental kind that comes with being distracted by surface impressions and glamour.

This week’s social media brouhaha over Nike’s choice to feature Colin Kaepernick as the face of its latest “Just Do It” ad campaign is one example. Kaepernick, you may recall, is the NFL quarterback who began the trend in 2016 of kneeling during the national anthem as a silent racial justice protest.

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We’re All Survivors These Days

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

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This week’s astrology features Mercury and Mars in Cancer making a series of aspects throughout the week. Mercury in Cancer, particularly, can indicate a mind that’s very sensitive to others — to people’s moods, to what they say, to what they seem to leave unsaid. Which means that it becomes extra important to say what you mean, and mean what you say.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

As Eric suggested in an email about this astrology, “make actual statements of fact. Do not hedge or pussyfoot around the point.”

I recognize how incredibly difficult this can be for many people — especially in person.

Years ago, I remember a college professor of mine pointing out that, more and more, he was hearing students say, “I feel that…” when they were actually trying to express their thoughts about an academic topic, not describe their feelings.

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This Is About Your Children or Grandchildren

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Note: I have released the first segment in the Generation: Millennials reading! You can order the full reading here; segments are being published individually.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Sometime in the early 1980s, people started displaying the ‘Baby on Board’ sign in the back windows of their cars. Far from being the Pet Rock of its day, this sign heralded new attitudes in parenting, and the arrival of a new generation — the Millennials.

Millennials on board. Illustration by Lizanne Webb.

These kids were welcomed to the world, and grew up amongst parents who really did their best for them. The cynical attitudes toward parenting of the 1960s and the 1970s were finally being left behind.

Now, the first arrivals from this generation are at or just beyond their first Saturn return, the astrological gateway into adulthood. Yet they face a world that seems openly hostile to their growth and progress.

For one thing, most of the Millennials who went to college carry a ridiculous amount of student loan debt. And there is a question whether their education even prepared them for life in the 21st century — and if not, how they are going to get that preparation.

Second, they are emerging into an economy where there are not many job opportunities for them. Said more precisely, the concept of a job is changing; some would say it’s evaporating. Millennials are coming of age in a world that is unrecognizable from anything their parents experienced.

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